Three no brainer moves that Mattingly refuses to make

[duke1861]

1. Start Alex Guerrero at 3rd over a Uribe.
2. Permanent call up Adam Liberatore.
3. Call up Zack Lee and put him in the rotation.

Mattingly is making this harder than it needs to be and as usual is making boneheaded decisions.

There is NO reason Uribe should be starting over Guerrero at this point. Alex's bat is too hot and his defensive is very much improved. Its almost like he is scared to make the switch. I hope it doesn't cost us.

The Chris Hatcher experiment needs to be over. He is by far the worst reliever on the team and needs to be sent down to OKC or shown the door. I see no improvement at all and Mattingly is in love with him. Maybe get him to the DL and fix whatever is wrong with the guy. Liberatore has been lights out and is pitching well. There is no reason to have him in OKC at this time.

Lastly, stop the musical chairs with the pitching staff. Call up Zack Lee and be done with it. He is 3-0 with a sub 1 ERA. He has been groomed for this yet we keep calling up scrubs like Frias. Bolsinger pitched well, but Lee is our best AAA pitcher at this point. Its a no brainer.

Mattingly is very frustrating and doesn't make the obvious decisions for some reason. Its strange.

 

[LASports96]

uh, well first of all Mattingly has no say on your 2nd and 3rd gripes, that is on the GM/Front Office to make roster moves.

And while we're arguing the points, you seem so down on Hatcher for what he's shown in a small sample size but love Liberatore for what he showed in an even smaller sample size? relax dude, Hatcher is pretty good, give him some time. Liberatore looks good too, but he'll get his time if he keeps performing.

Lee will be called up soon if the injury's continue, but their is a reason he hasn't been up yet because his timing on rest hasn't been right, the days they needed to call up a starter haven't been days Lee is due to pitch.

 

[GenJac]

Look its time to play armchair GM---Peralta and Puig are gone for 15 days--McCarthy might be next--Ryu is still at least 15 days away also---

Pitching should now be-----
Starters
Kershaw-Grienke-Zach Lee (If McCarthy is down)--Baker -Bret Anderson---2 more starts for the bottom 3 then
re-evaluate
Bullpen
Yimi-Paco-Howell-Frias-Santos-Baez-Nicasio

For the next 10 games
C Grandal
1B Adrian
2B Howie-------------------------------------1B LF
SS--Turner-----------------------------------1B-2B-3B-LF
3B Guerrerro---------------------------------2B-LF
Lf Vanslyke-----------------------------------Cf-Rf-1B
Cf Joc
Rf Eithier--- ----------------------------------Cf-LF

Uribe-Rollins---Both will still play almost every gameoff the bench
Crawford-Ellis--Barney-- (replace Puig)--will only play when needed

This will be solidarity for awhile--I like the offense and defense and even the Bullpen is ok--The starters are the real question here and maybe Ryu will come back sooner or McCarthy will be ok-He really hasnt shown much at all yet-- Even at 3-0---6.00 plus ERA isnt good

I still think a big trade is needed to take the NL West!

 

[LASports96]

nah, they're still clear favorites to win the West.

 

[lasportzphan]

I agree with starting Alex right now over Juan, but I will not blame Mattingly for this decision. It's a rock and a hard place. You can't undermine Uribe's confidence and bench him after a few weeks - what does that say to the rest of the guys? Do you really want them pressing in April? But Alex is hot as can be and they should want to ride that wave. If Alex is still producing in mid to late May and Juan is being Juan (great defense, streaky at the plate with an awful plate approach) then I think your gripe holds more water. Plus, defense has to be factored in and yesterday, Alex showed us something at the hot corner strengthening your gripe.

Agree with MVPuig on points 2 & 3 - Mattingly is playing the hand the front office has dealt him. I like Hatcher and his upside, I'd like to see more. As for Baez and JP Howell, well, I would start there. Baez has no issue giving up a homer every two appearances and Howell is throwing beach balls.

For me with Mattingly, less Ellis (when healthy, more Grandal). Otherwise, he's been okay. He'll be Donnie Dumb Dumb from time to time, but few managers are impervious to the second guessing.

In closing, MVPuig gave up on Alex Guerrero last year and I wanted to give him a look (just giving you grief, MVPuig).

 

[lasportzphan]

nah, they're still clear favorites to win the West.

Clear? Hard to say clear with the champs in our division and a new look Padres team that has played us tough to date. And Colorado appears to be a menace at home.

Clear? No. Do we have a shot? Sure. This team has yet to determine an identity. Lose 4 in a row to the Giants and then they are starting to show us something.

 

[LASports96]

In closing, MVPuig gave up on Alex Guerrero last year and I wanted to give him a look (just giving you grief, MVPuig).

Haha not really, but I did have some question marks and still do about his defense but the bat has continued to hit and I wasn't sold on that either. So far, so good.

Clear? Hard to say clear with the champs in our division and a new look Padres team that has played us tough to date. And Colorado appears to be a menace at home.

Clear? No. Do we have a shot? Sure. This team has yet to determine an identity. Lose 4 in a row to the Giants and then they are starting to show us something.

Dodgers have beaten the Padres 4 out of 6. Remember when they won 7 games in a row already?

And yeah we're the clear favorites to win the west. Fangraphs has us as a 81% chance of winning the west, by far the most of any team in any division.

 

[Villain]

1. Start Alex Guerrero at 3rd over a Uribe.
2. Permanent call up Adam Liberatore.
3. Call up Zack Lee and put him in the rotation.

Mattingly is making this harder than it needs to be and as usual is making boneheaded decisions.

There is NO reason Uribe should be starting over Guerrero at this point. Alex's bat is too hot and his defensive is very much improved. Its almost like he is scared to make the switch. I hope it doesn't cost us.

The Chris Hatcher experiment needs to be over. He is by far the worst reliever on the team and needs to be sent down to OKC or shown the door. I see no improvement at all and Mattingly is in love with him. Maybe get him to the DL and fix whatever is wrong with the guy. Liberatore has been lights out and is pitching well. There is no reason to have him in OKC at this time.

Lastly, stop the musical chairs with the pitching staff. Call up Zack Lee and be done with it. He is 3-0 with a sub 1 ERA. He has been groomed for this yet we keep calling up scrubs like Frias. Bolsinger pitched well, but Lee is our best AAA pitcher at this point. Its a no brainer.

Mattingly is very frustrating and doesn't make the obvious decisions for some reason. Its strange.

Wow. Overreaction much? You realize that we're not even a month into the season right? And that the Dodgers currently have the best bullpen in baseball? And that's without Kenley Jansen?

Chris Hatcher is currently 4th among all relievers with 17 K/9. That's better than Aroldis Chapman, Craig Kimbrel, Yimi Garcia, and anyone else who isn't one of the 3 ahead of him. He's also given up a grand total of zero home runs. Right now his opponents have a baBIP of an even .500 - you think he's broken over that? Do you really expect hitters to keep putting the ball into play 50% of the time? Come on. "Experiment" over after 6.1 innings?

This is you, overreacting:

By the way, you keep spelling Zach Lee's name wrong.

 

[LASports96]

I hate the internet.

 

[Villain]

Mattingly so stoopit! Letting Turner pinch hit instead of Guerrero!

 

[Villain]

Guerrero is starting in LF tonight.

You mad? Or happy?

 

[duke1861]

Well done Hatcher....well done!

 

[Villain]

Well done Hatcher....well done!

Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?

 

[Villain]

1. Start Alex Guerrero at 3rd over a Uribe.

This thread was created on April 26, when Guerrero's slash line was .500/.500/1.273 - You'll notice that his OBP matched his BA because home boy had zero walks in 24 trips to the batters' box.

Since then, in 27 plate appearances, Guerrero's slash line has been .167/.259/.333 ... eek. Well, at least he added three walks?

 

[Smed55]

I think Mattingly is letting a book manage this team! He needs to throw that book away! All managers are overrated and usually don't win games for their team, but they sure can lose games! He has cost Kershaw numerous wins, and cost Grienke last night. He has consistently benched his left handed STARTERS when facing left handed pitching. While our bench players have been very good this year, they are NOT our starters.

When you have 4-5 of your starting 8 on the bench, that's giving up on winning that game! I don't care if you are facing Bumgarner, your starters have just as good a chance of doing something against him that your backups have. Bumgarner is one of the best pitchers in the league, so your right-handed hitters are probably going to struggle against him also.

So when and if we make the playoffs, is Mattingly going to bench 4-5 left-handed STARTERS against a left-handed pitcher? It's assinie! These guys are professional hitters, have faced left handers their whole lives, let them face these guys during the season, how else are they going to hit left-handed pitching if Mattingly doesn't let them?

Last year Kershaw, the best left handed pitcher in the game, got tagged by the Cardinals LEFT HANEDED Hitters!!!

I'm tired of Mattingly giving multiple starters the day off on the same day, if he wants to give a guy a day off, give it to him, then give a different guy a different day off, on a different flipping day!

 

[Villain]

So, I take it you don't believe in platoon matchups...

 

[lasportzphan]

I think Mattingly is letting a book manage this team! He needs to throw that book away! All managers are overrated and usually don't win games for their team, but they sure can lose games! He has cost Kershaw numerous wins, and cost Grienke last night. He has consistently benched his left handed STARTERS when facing left handed pitching. While our bench players have been very good this year, they are NOT our starters.

When you have 4-5 of your starting 8 on the bench, that's giving up on winning that game! I don't care if you are facing Bumgarner, your starters have just as good a chance of doing something against him that your backups have. Bumgarner is one of the best pitchers in the league, so your right-handed hitters are probably going to struggle against him also.

So when and if we make the playoffs, is Mattingly going to bench 4-5 left-handed STARTERS against a left-handed pitcher? It's assinie! These guys are professional hitters, have faced left handers their whole lives, let them face these guys during the season, how else are they going to hit left-handed pitching if Mattingly doesn't let them?

Last year Kershaw, the best left handed pitcher in the game, got tagged by the Cardinals LEFT HANEDED Hitters!!!

I'm tired of Mattingly giving multiple starters the day off on the same day, if he wants to give a guy a day off, give it to him, then give a different guy a different day off, on a different flipping day!

Can you be more specific? SVS clobbers lefties. Ethier is notoriously awful versus lefties. We are in a three man platoon situation at third.

The team has the second best record in baseball without Puig, Ryu and KJ (for the majority of it). I don't get too worked up managers because hindsight is always 20/20. Mattingly has improved in my opinion.

 

[Villain]

Can you be more specific? SVS clobbers lefties. Ethier is notoriously awful versus lefties. We are in a three man platoon situation at third.

The team has the second best record in baseball without Puig, Ryu and KJ (for the majority of it). I don't get too worked up managers because hindsight is always 20/20. Mattingly has improved in my opinion.

Bravo! My name is Villain and I approve this post.

Also, it's not 4 or 5 of the starting 8 on the bench.

Lineup on April 28 vs Bumgarner:

Rollins, SS
Hernandez, CF
Turner, 1B
Kendrick, 2B
Van Slyke, RF
Guerrero, LF
Uribe, 3B
Ellis, C
Kershaw, P

So, the only three "bench" players in that starting lineup were Hernandez, Turner, and Guerrero. Van Slyke shouldn't be considered a bench player - he's been in a straight platoon with Ethier/Crawford since the going back to the middle of last season. I don't know if it's fair to consider AJ Ellis as Grandal's backup catcher. At least not yet. Also, the only reason why you can even have a second bench player in the outfield is because Puig was on the DL.

Lineup on April 22 vs Bumgarner:

Rollins, SS
Turner, 1B
Puig, RF
Kendrick, 2B
Van Slyke, LF
Heisey, CF
Uribe, 3B
Ellis, C
Kershaw, P

2 Bench players. I address why they started Turner for this game in another thread at the time:

It had nothing to do with Kershaw. It was because of Bumgarner and the fact that he owns left-handed hitters.

Bumgarner's Career SO/BB versus RHB: 3.36
Bumgarner's Career SO/BB versus LHB: 7.33

I said he owned Madison Bumgarner.

Justin Turner vs. Pitchers | Baseball-Reference.com

22 Plate Apperances. OPS over 1.000.

 

[Smed55]

Can you be more specific? SVS clobbers lefties. Ethier is notoriously awful versus lefties. We are in a three man platoon situation at third.

The team has the second best record in baseball without Puig, Ryu and KJ (for the majority of it). I don't get too worked up managers because hindsight is always 20/20. Mattingly has improved in my opinion.

Well I really don't see any of our guys clobbering Bumgarner!

 

[Smed55]

Bravo! My name is Villain and I approve this post.

Also, it's not 4 or 5 of the starting 8 on the bench.

Lineup on April 28 vs Bumgarner:








Rollins, SS
Hernandez, CF
Turner, 1B
Kendrick, 2B




Van Slyke, RF
Guerrero, LF
Uribe, 3B
Ellis, C
Kershaw, P








So, the only three "bench" players in that starting lineup were Hernandez, Turner, and Guerrero. Van Slyke shouldn't be considered a bench player - he's been in a straight platoon with Ethier/Crawford since the going back to the middle of last season. I don't know if it's fair to consider AJ Ellis as Grandal's backup catcher. At least not yet. Also, the only reason why you can even have a second bench player in the outfield is because Puig was on the DL.



Lineup on April 22 vs Bumgarner:

Rollins, SS
Turner, 1B



Puig, RF
Kendrick, 2B
Van Slyke, LF
Heisey, CF
Uribe, 3B



Ellis, C
Kershaw, P

2 Bench players. I address why they started Turner for this game in another thread at the time:

You can turn and twist it however you want to, Ellis is a backup, SVS, is also not a starter!, so yes it is 4-5 starters out!
While our "backups" have been very good, you don't bench 4-5 starters all in the same game